The down and dirty on textbook publishers November 11, 2009
Posted by Eugene Aronsky in : book publishing, bookstores, college bookstores, publishing industry, textbook publishers, textbooks, used books , add a commentThe way that the publishing business works has changed much since the early days of the Internet. The way that it used to work was that textbooks were more affordable, and since the used book market was very private, publishers were content with their profit margin. It is important to note here that publishers profit only from the sale of a new book; when a used book is sold and resold the original publisher of the book does not see a cent of the money generated. In the case where a bookstore sells used books, the bookstore gets the profit from the sale of the used book but has to buy it from someone. In the case of college bookstores, they have a constant supply of books since every year students graduate and want to get rid of their textbooks. On the other hand, whenever you purchase a book from certain sites online, the profit from the sale goes to the person selling the book, most likely another student.
As the used textbooks market developed with the rise of the Internet, and students were finally able to take control of the used book market by being able to sell their books online, publishers realized that fewer people were buying new textbooks. The solution that publishers devised was to put out a greater number of new editions or to put out new editions more often. It is important to note that many changing or rapidly evolving subjects such as computer science or biology require a new edition to be released yearly because the field changes constantly, but many other subjects such as literature, philosophy, and even business, in other words subjects that are not in a state of great flux and do not change rapidly do not require frequent edition updates. I can recall an ancient history class I took as a sophomore where the textbook that was available at the bookstore was the latest edition, and cost $80. Since I was fairly confident that ancient Greek history had not seen any major changes in the past few years I purchased an older edition online, saving $60 in the process, and had no problem keeping up the pace with other students of the class.
What many publishers do these days is that they put out a new edition regardless of whether or not any changes were actually made to the content of the book. If no changes were made than what they do is they will move around chapters, or maybe change a few chapter titles. The other strategy that publishers have developed is to include a CD or DVD with the textbook. This is seen as increasing the value of the book; however what they fail to tell you is that most, if not all, of the information on the CD/DVD is available on the publisher’s website for free, plus I have yet to meet a teacher who puts these CDs to good use.
The advice that I would offer students is to buy used and buy old editions whenever possible, and if you want to shop online I recommend you use a book price comparison website, in order to make sure that the price you are getting is the best one. In general, you should not stray further than 2 editions prior to the current one. If you are unsure as to an older edition of a textbook, I would advise that you consult with your professor, many are starting to come to the realization that books are putting a real economic strain on students and are starting to care, so they may be able to help.
Finding Books at Discount Prices: A professors Guide October 3, 2009
Posted by admin in : college advice, e-books, new books, textbooks, used books , 2commentsI have a pretty good relationship with many of my former professors, and sometimes I ask them to contribute their thoughts to some of the issues that students face.
Here is a blog post written by a former professor of mine, I hope that you find this useful.
Professor Colette Mazzucelli, Department of Political Science, Hofstra University and Center for Global Affairs, New York University
The more we teach, the more we learn about… discovering ways to save money for our students as book prices increase. Examples from my courses this semester are helpful illustrations. The comparative politics coursefor the Hofstra undergraduates, features three texts, which Norton sells as a package. The e-Book option is one the company’s sales representative helped me to identify as much less expensive for students. This package features efficient access to content on personal laptops in class as well as ease in note taking and markup right in the e-Book margins. Students who prefer to purchase the print copies of the different texts are encouraged to buy the much cheaper second editions even though new third editions just appeared in print. For those eager to compare, the new third editions are now placed on reserve as well in Hofstra’s Library. The Facebook reference to We Compare Books is available for undergraduates in my different class sections as they shop for cheap textbooks in various courses. Bookstores may prefer that students purchase individual textbooks, instead of packages, because these texts can be resold when the same classes are offered in subsequent years. In the immediate term, however, buying texts in packages or in bulk, as the next example illustrates, offers genuine savings for students. At New York University, my international relations syllabus for those graduates new to the M.S. Program in Global Affairs features extensive reading. This is a foundation course, which should also offer students ideas to develop research interests as the program of studies progresses to the thesis requirement. In this fall’s learning community, one of the members works for Pearson and offered to sell the others one of the required volumes for purchase at a discount price. Another option to keep costs low is to require texts for purchase that are available in paperback edition. In courses with such a wide selection of readings, the effective and efficient option in terms of savings and organization is to assign a minimum number of texts for purchase, let’s say five, all available in paperback. The rest of the readings are posted on the Blackboard learning system as PDF files for students to access from their home computers each week. The international relations syllabus also integrates progressively the wealth of public education materials available free of charge online, including multimedia resources and written transcripts. In these ways, the course retains breadth and depth in the readings, excessive trips to the Library Reserve Desk are unnecessary, and students do not spend as much for required course purchases. The future holds the promise of additional savings as many books are made available on the public commons by universities like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In this era of ever-rising tuition rates for higher education, every option to save counts during college years. Students should be able to afford the books for the courses they pay a substantial tuition to attend. This adds to the teacher’s responsibilities in course design to continue to identify savings options without sacrificing quality in higher education.
textbooks for a few Masters’ of Public Administration courses at Seton Hall University August 24, 2009
Posted by admin in : Seton Hall MPA textbooks, new books, textbooks, used books , add a commentFiguring out which textbooks are required for class is often an arduous and tedious task, but this is still the best strategy to get your textbooks cheap, b/c if you wait to buy your books until the first day of class the cheapest ones will likely already be sold out and you may have to buy them at the bookstore at bookstore prices.
There are a number of ways to go about finding out what books are required, you can talk to a friend who took the course last semester, or try to see if the bookstore has the information… but the best way still remains, asking the professor. Given this difficult task, I decided to simplify a small part of this process by talking to one of my professors and having him give me his required textbooks for his courses. Here is the list of books that are required for a few of the masters’ in Public Administration courses at Seton Hall University; these are all of the courses taught by Professor Paul Cavanagh this semester.
PSMA6005NA
Management Control In Nonprofit Organizations
Book ISBN: 0072508256
Balanced Scorecard: Step-by-Step for Government and Nonprofit Agencies
Book ISBN: 9780470180020
PSMA7321NA
Foundation Fundamentals
Book ISBN: 1595420061
Grant Management: Funding for Public and Nonprofit Programs
Book ISBN: 9780763755270
PSMA6004SA
Economics of Social Issues
Book ISBN: 9780073402802
Annual Editions: Economics, 35/e
Book ISBN: 9780073528564
The never-ending question, is it better to rent or to buy textbooks? August 6, 2009
Posted by admin in : books, education, new books, textbooks, used books , add a commentIn recent years renting textbooks has grown to be very popular. A recent article published onWebwire broaches the issue of is renting textbooks economical?
The rush by students to rent college textbooks may be misdirected
WEBWIRE – Thursday, August 06, 2009
- Contact Information
- Tammy Kassner
- Director of Admissions
- Andrew Jackson University
- 205-871-9288, ext. 107
- tkassner@aju.edu
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – College students are flocking to companies that rent textbooks rather than buying them at bloated retail prices from campus bookstores. Some students have the impression that they are saving money by renting textbooks. But research done recently by Tammy Kassner, director of admissions at Andrew Jackson University, indicates that many rental fees are frequently more expensive than buying books second-hand.
Since Andrew Jackson University www.aju.edu delivers its low-cost courses online, and their students can’t just walk into a traditional campus bookstore, their admissions and student services departments have been helping students find good deals on textbooks. After checking prices posted online by Chegg www.chegg.com , BookRenter www.bookrenter.com and Amazon www.amazon.com for textbooks used in eight popular courses, Tammy Kassner’s staff found that few rentals were bargains when compared to the used-book prices posted on Amazon.
Five out of the eight textbooks were less expensive to purchase, based on Amazon postings, than to rent from either Chegg or BookRenter. A textbook for a criminal justice course (CJ316) at Andrew Jackson University, for example, could be bought used on Amazon for $5.24 while rentals on Chegg and BookRenter were $45.09 and $58.40, respectively. The rentals have to be returned with minimal highlighting and no writing in the margins or the student is charged full price for the textbook, according to an article in the July 31 edition of Inside Higher Ed by Stephanie Lee. “That turns a lot of students off as they want to be able to make notes in the margin as well as highlight certain things,” commented Kassner.
Kassner says that newer editions can be cheaper to rent than to buy used as there aren’t as many newer editions flooding the market to drive down prices. One instance she found where renting made sense was a textbook required for the university’s BA 541 business course. The least expensive Amazon posting was $84.94 while the same book could be rented from Chegg for $51.50 and from BookRenter for $$27.40. “But a buyer of the new edition can also expect to sell the textbook for a pretty good price when they finish the course,” Kassner said, “so the actual net cost could be substantially less than the cost of renting.”
So what does Kassner and the Andrew Jackson University staff recommend? They encourage students to shop around and compare prices, including shipping costs. “And be sure to read the fine print if you’re renting,” she cautions. “We also suggest that our students check www.wecomparebooks.com for their pricing comparisons. After all, we’re trying to provide our students with a quality college education at the lowest cost, and overpaying for textbooks just doesn’t fit in with that philosophy,” Kassner concluded.
WebWireID100861
Article was originally published in:
http://takeeducationanywhere.com/2009/08/06/the-rush-by-students-to-rent-college-textbooks-may-be-misdirected.aspx
Avoid costly mistakes August 5, 2009
Posted by Eugene Aronsky in : Uncategorized, book reviews, books, college bookstores, education, financial aid, international editions, new books, textbooks, used books , add a commentWhen I was an undergraduate buying textbooks, or any books for that matter, was straightforward, I went to the bookstore and bought the book, or I went online and bought it on Amazon. If I could not afford the book I got a student loan to pay for textbooks (close to $12000 of student loans over 7 years of education went to textbooks). Sometimes I even got a textbook scholarship, but this was rare. All and all I did not have to concern myself with worrying, and had a complete disregard for how I would pay back my student loans. Moreover, the financial aid department at my school often encouraged me to think this way.
Today things are different. Sure you can still act as I once did, and many students do just that, but the reality is that student loans are harder to come by, and the job market being what it is, everyone is struggling and will likely continue to struggle after graduation. This is why I want to share what little wisdom I have acquired during my years as a student.
It has been brought to my attention that I do not make any money from the maintenance of this blog, this is totally true. This blog exists, and We Compare Books itself was founded because I want to help students. I feel an affinity with students, and I do not want them to repeat my mistakes. On that note I would urge you to read this blog, if you are a student, and please take the advice to heart. If you are a professor who cares about your students, you can share this blog’s URL with them. If you are a parent, or know anyone who could benefit from the information here, I would urge you to spread this news. The world has changed, and we cannot afford to keep living as though it has not.
All this to say: compare prices. It is imperative that you check prices, all over the Internet and at your local bookstore. This is the only way you can be sure to get the best prices for all your books.